environmentally advantageous....

Repairs and construction of the lower end of the arroyo started this week as part of State funding from the ORCA program. The total allocation of funds for this particular project has been allocated at $421,000. It is not known if the project will reach the Rio Grande River or how much it will cover.

This part of the arroyo has received much attention throughout the years but not enough to make it flourish in a way that would draw citizens and visitors.

Its apparent that the landscaping needs some work and it also needs tending particularly irrigation.

This has led me to wonder if the possibility of turning this arroyo project into a more environmentally advantageous project is at all possible. Would it be possible to create a small reservoir from where the city could draw non-potable water to irrigate plants and grass? While I am aware that the State regulates the use of water from naturally flowing bodies, is there a provision that would allow our use of that water just for our arroyo project? Just wondering.

Herrera walks out...

It is quite intriguing to read in local newspapers about the current problem involving Joe Herrera, the Parks and Recreation supervisor, Jorge Sanchez the director of Parks and Recreation and Hector Chavez, the interim city manager. What one can deduce from the printed accounts is that Herrera was removed from the position of supervisor because he failed to complete some important paperwork that as a result disqualified local children from moving to a next level of competition. According to one source, this was the second time that these children had been eliminated in the same manner. On the other hand, Herrera contends that he was removed in retaliation for writing a 14-page complaint where he alleged that he was unable to work satisfactorily because of Jorge Sanchez, director of Parks and Recreation. It appears that on Friday he was summoned to the interim city manager's office. The reason for this meeting is not clear. One must assume the meeting was in reference to this adverse action but at some point Herrera walks out of the meeting and is followed by the city manager, the director of Parks and Recreation and Jorge Sanchez, head of the city's Human Resource department. Herrera stated that after he walked out of Chavez's office he headed for the Mayor's office to inform him of the situation.

As of today, Joe Herrera is no longer supervisor of Parks & Recreation but continues as a city employee. While many feel badly about these children that were unable to move up in competition, I am sure others are very interested in knowing what is contained in the 14-page complaint. Lets hope that in the spirit of promised transparency, that the public is told the truth.

I need to go to sleep

The reason why my entries are lagging behind is quite simply because I don't have much to say about anything in particular. I spend enough time reading other blogs and some of them are so insightful, at times even meaningful that it puts me to shame...real shame. If I had to do it over again I would have liked to be a writer that could express thoughts to writing in a way everyone could appreciate. Lately I have enjoyed doing photography just for fun and it makes me feel good. Since my retirement from State, I have tried joining groups but find it difficult to talk about retirement. Somehow it doesn't feel like its over to some extent. I have to stop myself from thinking about starting another "project." My current activity is to eliminate clutter. I have too many books that have not been read and just as many that have. I also have too many wire connectors and power adapters that were used on things I no longer have. And as you can see...I just wasted my time in writing something about nothing. Its 1:14 am....I need to go to sleep. Good night.